March 2020

US eyes new outbreaks as infections worldwide top 575,000

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:38pm

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans rushed to build a makeshift hospital in its convention center Friday as troubling new outbreaks bubbled in the United States, deaths surged in Italy and Spain and the world warily trudged through the pandemic that has sickened more than a half-million people.

Punctuating the fact that no one is immune to the new coronavirus, it pierced even the highest echelons of global power, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson becoming the first leader of a major country to test positive.

On NYC’s front lines, health workers worry they will be next

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:35pm

NEW YORK (AP) — A nurse died from coronavirus after working nonstop for weeks at a hospital where staffers frustrated with dwindling supplies posed in gowns made of trash bags. An emergency room doctor fears he had the virus long before getting too sick to work. Another nurse worries the lone mask she’s issued each day won’t be enough to protect her from an unending tide of hacking, feverish patients.

Political turmoil in Kabul dogs negotiations with Taliban

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:33pm
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — After months of deliberation, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday announced his 21-member team to negotiate peace with the Taliban, only to have his political opponent reject it as not inclusive enough. 

Afghanistan’s political turmoil has impeded each tentative step toward negotiations with the Taliban — negotiations that are supposed to come next under a peace deal that Washington signed with the insurgents last month. 

British Prime Minister Johnson tests positive for virus

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:33pm
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LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first leader of a major nation to contract COVID-19, but he insisted Friday that he remains in charge of the U.K.’s response to the outbreak.

Two of Johnson’s top aides in the fight against the virus — his health secretary and top medical adviser — also said they had the disease.

Johnson, 55, said he was tested Thursday after showing “mild symptoms”: a temperature and a persistent cough.

In Iran, false belief a poison fights virus kills hundreds

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:31pm

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Standing over the still body of an intubated 5-year-old boy wearing nothing but a plastic diaper, an Iranian health care worker in a hazmat suit and mask begged the public for just one thing: Stop drinking industrial alcohol over fears about the new coronavirus.

The boy, now blind after his parents gave him toxic methanol in the mistaken belief it protects against the virus, is just one of hundreds of victims of an epidemic inside the pandemic now gripping Iran. 

South Africa has first death

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:30pm

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa announced its first deaths from the coronavirus Friday as the country’s cases rose above 1,000 and a three-week lockdown began, with military patrolling and police screaming at the homeless on quiet streets.

But some people cooly strolled through townships, alcohol in hand, or jostled in line at shops as fellow citizens looked on, worried. “Children are playing in the streets. It looks like it is the holiday season,” said Phiwe Manata, who lives in Gugulethu township outside Cape Town.

MLB uniform maker switches to producing medical masks, gowns

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:29pm
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Bryce Harper jersey that could have been worn this baseball season by the biggest Philadelphia Phillies fan is now a protective mask in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for Major League Baseball, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the polyester mesh fabric to make masks and gowns for hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby states.

Pandemic: NCAA slashes distribution by $375 million

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:28pm
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Canceling March Madness because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost the NCAA about $375 million that it would have distributed to 350 schools across the nation.

Some will be able to absorb the losses better than others. 

The NCAA announced Thursday it will distribute $225 million to its Division I member schools in June, nearly two-thirds less than the $600 million scheduled to be handed out in installments from April to June. 

MLBers keep service time in deal; draft may trim

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:26pm

NEW YORK (AP) — Players agreed to a deal with Major League Baseball that would preserve service time in the event this season is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but left open details of what a configured schedule would look like.

As part of the agreement approved by the union Thursday night, players will not challenge the loss of their salaries if no games are played. 

Women rising through NFL ranks at many levels

Published on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 3:26pm

NEW YORK (AP) — Sophia Lewin was 12 years old when she told her father about her career goal: coaching football. Her dad didn’t exactly scoff, but he suggested perhaps scouting would be a more attainable profession.

Nowadays, there are women handling both jobs.

According to 2019 research by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, there are 73 female vice presidents throughout the league. The NFL’s chief operating officer is Maryann Turcke. One-third of the working force in NFL offices is made up of women.